UGC secretary wants to go back to parent organisation

University Grants Commission (UGC) secretary Akhilesh Gupta has sought repatriation within a year of joining the higher education regulator saying his services are "badly required" in his parent office to run the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).

Gupta in his letter to UGC chairperson Ved Prakash said the two missions under NAPCC launched by the Prime Minister in 2008 had faced a setback after he joined the commission a year back.

"My parent organisation (Department of Science and Technology) has been requesting me to come back to take over the major national programme. The department does not have any other officer who has domain expertise to handle such a mega programme of national importance," he said, in a letter to Prakash on Wednesday.

The official found the job of secretary UGC as very intense requiring sustained hard work both mental and physical.

"Of late, my intense long working hours and day to day involvement in the complex issues have started affecting my health to a great extend," the letter reads.

He also mentioned that his doctors have advised him not to strain too much and choose a lighter and less intense job as he was suffering from hyper tension and was diabetic for the last 10 years.

"The (ailments) could be fatal if I ignore these warnings and work the way I am expected to work in UGC," he said.

Confirming that he has sought repatriation on health grounds, Gupta told HT that many new initiatives were taken by him in UGC including filling over 100 vacant posts and initiation of e-governance project.

He, however, admitted that he had differences over some issues with the commission chairperson but did not elaborate.

Sources, however, said Prakash and Gupta were not getting along well and many in the commission felt that Gupta, who had come from science background, did not had expertise in diverse field of higher education.